According to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, Foster was arrested in Los Gatos, California, on Sunday for allegations of domestic violence. He was later booked at the Santa Clara County Jail and is being held on $75,000 bail.

Crime and safety reporter Robert Salonga of the Mercury News notes that Foster was also arrested for suspicion of possessing an assault rifle.

Heading into the 2017 NFL Draft last April, Foster was widely considered a top-five pick. After failing a drug test at the annual NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, the former Alabama linebacker fell all to the way to the 31st pick in the draft, where San Francisco traded up for him.

This most-recent off-field incident puts the 49ers in a precarious position. Under the leadership of general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan — both hired last January — San Francisco has taken a hard-line approach regarding off-field issues, especially alleged violence directed at women.

The team acted quickly to release former starting cornerback Tramaine Brock after he was arrested on domestic violence charges last April. While those charges were ultimately dropped, Brock's career with the 49ers ended that spring day.

"As those situations arise and, hopefully, there won’t be a lot them, we’re going to treat each one of them as a unique and different situation,” Lynch said last April after the team released Brock, per the above-mentioned Chronicle article.

The issue here is two-fold. Moving on from a player that San Francisco might not have had in its long-term plans (Brock) is one thing. Releasing a first rounder mere months after exhausting a pick on him is a completely different thing. Sadly, if Foster were a third-string quarterback, the NFL's own history tells us that he likely would have already been released.

In addition to the charges he's facing off the field, Foster will definitely be looking at some sort of punishment under the NFL's personal conduct policy. Based on what we saw with Ezekiel Elliott and his domestic violence situation and Foster's own checkered off-field history, that would likely mean a minimum of a six-game ban.

From a pure culture standpoint, San Francisco's new brass has made it clear it won't take kindly to alleged off-field situations of this ilk. After the previous regime responded questionably to the legal matters of several players, that was music to the ears of 49ers fans. Whether Foster's status as the face of this team's rebuild on defense has any bearing on San Francisco's reaction remains to be seen.

Foster, 23, recorded 72 tackles in 10 games (all starts) as a rookie. He's currently playing under a four-year, $9.04 million deal he signed with San Francisco last June.

Editor at Large at Sportsnaut. Contributor here at Forbes. Head editor at the start-up SNIPdaily. Seen on Fox Sports and MSN. Heard on ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio. Twitter, @VincentFrankNFL

Editor at Large of Sportsnaut, contributor here at Forbes. Seen on Fox Sports and MSN. Heard on Fox Sports Radio and ESPN Radio. Previous bylines include: Bleacher Report, Pro Football Focus, Yahoo! Sports and eDraft.